Hi all, I hope someone can help me with this situation:
I am trying to transfer a few domains from Ionos (“1&1”) to Cloudflare. However, because of a billing mix up there I do not have access to the DNS settings page for the domains.
In order to edit the DNS settings, nameservers, etc., I am told that I have to move the domains to another contract with Ionos first, and this requires me to pay the annual fee long before the domains are to expire. And I would have to pay another transfer fee while transferring to Cloudflare.
I am trying to avoid paying at 1&1 simply to have access to the DNS settings even though I have paid for these domains for many years. The mix up was caused by them, but I have to pay for one more year to have access to the settings page.
I do have the authorization codes for transferring the domains. Also, the transfer lock has been disabled.
My question is:
Is there a way to transfer these domains to Cloudflare without editing the nameservers at Ionos/1&1 first, pointing to cloudflare?
Like I said, I do have the authorization codes for transfer, and the transfer lock has been disabled on the domains.
I am basically trying to avoid paying double. So someone please help me!
Cloudflare only does domain registration transfers for domains already using Cloudflare name servers, so it sound like you don’t meet that requirement.
Paying double? Not likely. Any time you transfer a domain registration, they should just add one year onto your current expiration date. Then you’ll have to wait 60 days before you can transfer the registration to Cloudflare, adding yet another year onto your expiration date.
Thanks sdayman!
When I said “paying double” I meant having to pay for two years right now, well before the expiry dates – once at Ionos/1&1 and once more while transferring to Cloudflare.
Under normal circumstances I would have full access to the DNS settings page, and I can change the nameservers to Cloudflare nameservers. However, because of a billing mixup at Ionos/1&1 the domains are in a limbo with no access for me to the settings page. I am told that I would have to move them to another contract simply to have this access. For this I have to pay for 1 year – well before the expiry dates. And then, I will have to pay again to transfer them to Cloudflare.
Even though 1 year gets added each time, it is still a major expense for me – especially since some of these have those fancy TLDs that cost a helluva lot more, especially at Ionos/1&1.
Sorry, my reply is long, but can you help me with one more question?
If I let the domains expire, wait for 30 days or whatever is the “grace period” for renewal, could I then register them fresh at Cloudflare? I feel this could be tricky if the domains are not entirely freed from 1&1.
Cloudflare’s “new domain registration” beta is currently closed. Even then, it’s risky to let any domain expire. As for pricing, have you seen what Cloudflare charges for those “fancy TLDs”?
Cloudflare prices are just over half of what I pay at the other provider for two different newer TLDs that I transferred in the past. So the difference would be substantial overall.
I just checked the price list. The markup is huge at the other place – nearly 100%!
I didn’t know new domain registration is closed at Cloudflare.
I get more clarity about my situation. You’re right about letting domains expire being risky. I guess I’ll have to do what’s necessary. Thanks again for your replies, sdayman
